You may not instantly recognize the name Danielle Harris, but if you’ve got a vested interest in the horror genre then you’ll have seen her in more than a few movies. The actress was a veteran of the Halloween franchise while still a teenager having starred in The Return of Michael Myers, The Revenge of Michael Myers and The Curse of Michael Myers between 1988 and 1995.
Since then, she’s gone on to feature in countless entries in the genre including Urban Legend, Left for Dead, Stakeland, the Hatchet series and many more, as well as returning to Halloween for Rob Zombie’s remake and its sequel, although she played a different character the second time around. In recent years, the 43 year-old has moved into directing, and Harris’ latest project is described as Scream meets Charlie’s Angels.
The movie sounds like it’ll be more than a little meta, and Sequel is being spearheaded by Renfield Productions, the company owned by Gremlins director Joe Dante. Plot details are still under wraps, but based on the title, it would appear that a deconstruction of the genre is on the cards, with the script being written by Doctor Who and Torchwood scribe James Moran.
Harris commented on her latest directorial effort in a recent statement and she sounds pretty excited to step behind the camera once again in an effort to put a fresh spin on the slasher, something that’s already been updated and reinvented for modern audiences a thousand times over.
“I knew as soon as I finished reading the first act that Sequel was the perfect fit for me. I could finally bring all of my experiences in the horror genre behind the camera and into these exceptionally written final girl characters. I’ve been on the hunt for a story that had strong female leads and was intelligent and darkly comedic. I just didn’t want to do anything paranormal since we have enough real life evil without having to go make sh*t up. If I’m going to spend the next two years of my life on a film, it has to be fun and this story has it all. With Joe Dante and Mark Alan by my side, we’re gonna kill it.”
Danielle Harris is nothing if not prolific, having appeared in eight movies and two documentaries in the last three years alone, and Sequel will find her back on familiar turf as she looks to continue her ascent up the directorial ranks.
